Heathen no more

"Graciously hear our prayers, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and by Thy unfailing might protect this soul of Thy choice, Leopold Michael, now marked with the sign of Our Lord's holy cross. Preserving inviolate this first impress of Thy great glory, may he keep Thy commandments and thus deserve to attain the glory of baptismal rebirth."

"Leopold Michael, I baptize you in the + Father, and of the + Son, and of the + Holy Spirit."

"Receive this white garment and see that you wear it without stain to the judgement seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may enjoy life everlasting."

"Receive this burning light and safeguard your Baptism by a blameless life: keep God's commandments so that when our Lord comes to the marriage feast you may be worthy to greet Him with all the saints in the heavenly court, and live forever and ever."

My St. Nicholas Day Gift

Leopold Michael
Natus 12.6.08 at 11:14pm
10 lbs. 10 oz.
22 3/4 inches long

Little Leopold was born at home after only 2 hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing, with no injuries to mother or child. (Well, minus a little shoulder dystocia.) God has great timing, has been so merciful, and His Providence is unsurpassable.

Deo Gratia!!

(for name explanations: click Leopold and click Michael)

*

Instant Gratification Denied -------- Advent Embraced

In the age of scheduled C-sections and labor induction on-demand, it’s no surprise to me that, starting a solid 2 weeks before my due date, the phone calls and well-intentioned e-mails start pouring in. And since I am traditionally (and as of yesterday) officially (*cringe*) overdue (*cringe*), my nature has, in the past, inclined me to be annoyed by this vocalization of expectation.
But I’ve learned my lesson, and it’s different this time around.

I enjoy these inquiries into my state and the baby’s, and love bragging about the easy progress I’ve made in the last few days or hours before the true onset of labor.* I love those who call, and I know they call me out of that mutual love. But, more often than not, this on-edged-ness of those surrounding me teaches me a great lesson. And it’s not just one of patience or politeness. No. It goes beyond that.

All of my children have been birthed during the liturgical seasons of either Advent or Lent. Times of waiting. Times of preparation for the coming of Him Who is Life Itself. And most of them have been born a bit late-ish. Which only reinforces the fact that we are – dare I say it? – keeping constant vigil.

We’re watching and waiting and preparing for a new life – an imago Dei.
Listening, hoping, observing every little twinge and movement of the one whom we await.

And now I ask myself and you – are we watching and waiting and preparing for the coming of Christ – at Christmas, at the Resurrection, at the Final Judgment – with the same intensity and vigilance and hope with which we await the birth of this child in my womb? If not, we need to start.

It is Advent, after all. And the Church, in Her ancient wisdom, gives us this time as an opportune gift. Pregnancy, I have learned, is a mere shadow – a symbol - of this time of preparation for our encounter with “Him Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is To Come.”

Today, as I prepare in so many ways to behold the face of my child who is yet a beautiful mystery to me, I ought also be learning how to prepare my soul to behold that splendid, perfectly mysterious face of the One Who made us all and beckons us to Himself. I’m going to do just that.

So, “Maranatha!”
Come, Lord Jesus!
And, of course, come on out, little baby!!!!!


(*At the time of blogication, blogger was 5cm dilated, and over 50% effaced with a ‘bulging bag of waters’ and one very engaged baby. And no painful contractions yet. Excellent.)

*

Incase you feel entitled to an explanation

I've received a few panicked phone calls lately, and thought it might be an act of charity on my part to set all hearts at ease by posting a quick note to let anyone who cares know that i've not yet delivered a baby. ;)

And to be perfectly honest, i am totally okay with that! I mean, my due date isn't even here yet. By past experience, that often comes and goes without event, so i'm not expecting too much at the moment. I was, however, consoled to know that as of last Friday, i was already 3cm and 50%. Typical for me to hang out here for a week and a half before D-day, so the consolation lies in knowing that the more work i do now, the less HARD work i'll have to do on the day of delivery.

So for those who are panic-stricken, be aware that i've been given numerous ultimatums about when i CAN and CAN'T have the baby, all of which, i am sure, somehow affect my psyche. These include:

-"You can't have the baby on the 26th, b/c i'm already off work and need to get a bunch of work done outside." (Joe)

-"You can't have the baby on the 27th, b/c that's Thanksgiving Day." (Joe)

-"You can't have the baby on the 28th, b/c i'm already off work AGAIN and need to get a bunch of Kairos work done incase the baby comes late." (Joe)

-"Great Grandma's vieweing is on the 25th and her funeral is on the 26th, so you can't have the baby then, either." (May she rest in peace.) (Joe)

-"You're kids are going to come down with the flu on the 29th, so you better put off having the baby another day. Oh, and on the 30th, which would otherwise be a great day to have a baby, YOU are going to get slammed with a sore throat, stuffy nose, nausea, and trouble-from-the-other-end. No sense in delivering then." (God)

So you see, i really had no options anyway. I dont know why you people who expect early deliveries and then make ulitmatums don't see the folly of your ways.

To be sure, i will keep everyone posted (no pun intended). So keep doing me the favor of resisting the temptation to call and see if i'm in labor yet... cause i'm not. Too many demands to meet, and some recovering to do yet from my fight with the flu.

PUPPIES!!

You know you want to buy one of these!

How can you resist those adorable little eyes and freckled noses?!
For Jack Russell pups, the pricing is competitive - $100 female, $75 male.

St. Nick's Day is Dec. 6 and then follows Christmas - at their small size, these puppies are sure to make the perfect stocking stuffers!

C'mon! Show your kids this picture!!

*

One less headache for homebirthers

Lucky for you, I condensed this post down to a few sentences. Originally, you would have had to scroll down 4 cyber feet to read it in its entirety. I realize noone cares THAT much about what i think, so here's the point:

If you give birth at home and want to have your child screened for all of those undetectable yet fatal illnesses and metabolic disorders like PKU and CF, then cut out the middle man, insurance companies, and grumpy old nurses at the hospital birth center by ordering your own kit from this independent lab via the web.* It's convenient and costs less than what you're insurance will cover. I promise.

But you better hurry up and do it before Barry O. socializes health care and drives these independent labs out of business and deems homebirthing illegal!


(*Mega thanks to my SIL, Rachel, for finding the site for me!!)

Of course this is another post on pregancy!

You've been holding out for something deep and theological.
Sorry.
All you have to do is be pregnant or married to someone who is pregnant to know that you wait in vain.

First of all, i need to get it off my chest that i heard someone classify me as "plump." Can you believe it? The nerve! Of course, it was a 3 year old, and he did say it with affection....

Due to this unhidably "plump" condition of mine, anyone i bump into (with my plump belly - look out!) asks when i am due, etc. etc. This morning, the inquisitor was the Kroger checkout lady. When i answered her with a joyful and content, "Anytime within the next few days!" she followed up with the infamous, "So, do you know what it is?" Resisting the urge to answer, "We're certain it's a human, although my husband's side did raise goats," I replied that we never find out the sex of our baby before birth. And her response was great - one among the gems i've been blessed to receive from the minds of clerks. It was this:

"Well, i guess we're not given that many chances to be surprised in life. Why spoil it, eh!"

Vocalizations of an almost 4 year old

*****
At Breakfast this morning (which included bagels and oj)

Me: "Thomas, did you know that today is Great Grandpa and Grandma's 54th wedding anniversary?"

Thomas: "Are they gonna have any more babies?"

*****
After returning home yesterday from my first haircut in 19 months:

Joe: "Thomas, do you notice anything different about mommy?"

Thomas: "Ummm.... nope."

*****
While helping me bake the Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownies for my 27th (which, by the way, are the most delicious boxed mix ever - and that's saying a lot, coming from this chocoholic):

Thomas: "Oh! Mommy! Can i put these pink sprinkles on top? They are sooooo beautiful!"

*****

Mutant Turkeys of Thanksgiving

You're right.
I don't regularly post more than once a day.
You're right again.
These artful birds are only on display to distract your attention from the previous post. Noone should have to look at that for the next week.

Nota bene: Cameras add 5lbs.

(37wks and some odd days)

I can't believe this is happening to me

(although i guess i should expect it, when i'm storing dozens of plastic bins of children's clothes in the basement.)

Where are all those itty-bitty baby booties!!??
I know i have thousands of pairs of them, but they're not in the 0-3 month boy bin, and they're not in the 0-3 month girl bin, and they're not in the 3-6 month boy bin, nor are they in the 3-6 month/6-9 month girl bin, and i REFUSE to enter any bins that have the month "12" marked on them anywhere.

Where ARE they? We wants them!!!

*

Plans for the future

Is it possible to impeach a president for his dealings with and ties to an unrepentant domestic terrorist?

Just throwing that out there.

*

Overheard

My dad's version of "This Little Piggy," which caused us all to erupt with laughter:

"This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy had roast beef,

and all these little piggies went to the election booth and voted for John McCain.

And this little piggy's name was Barack Obama and he lost the election and went crying 'BooHoooHOoWAAHH!!!' all the way back to Illinois."

*

To be equated with a Disney Princess

"Snow White was so lovely that her vain and jealous stepmother, the Queen, feared the girl's beauty would someday outshine her own. So she dressed Snow White in rags and forced her to work as a scullery maid."

I've come to expect that i can't get through one page of a story without receiving at least two vocabulary questions. Which is great. And an avenue for the most glorious and unanticipated compliments. Behold:

T: "Mommy. What's a scullery maid?"

Me: Not precisely sure, and deducing a definintion from the illustration on the page, i replied, "Oh, it's just someone who scrubs the floors and cleans the bathrooms and does all the yuckiest jobs in the house."

T: (With the brightest eyes and a smile of pride)"Hey, that's like youuuuuuuuuu!!!!"

My heart melted when i noticed how he was delighted to realize that Snow White and I are kind of like the same person. I think i might kiss him for this one for, like, 3 weeks straight. Maybe longer. Yes, quite possibly longer.

slow morning

It's early yet - and seems even earlier than it really is due to my late-in-pregnancy sleep deprivation, the effects of which are emphasized all the more by a squirmy nighttime 18 month old who decided to wake extra early this morning. (And she had a really smelly diaper. That somehow makes it worse. I dont know how, but it does. Stop asking me questions.)

But it's okay.

After breakfast and morning prayers, a bit of tickle torture, and bribery with chocolate chip cookies, we're all hanging out in the office. Thomas is lying on his belly, swinging his feet in childhood contentedness, drawing in his favorite coloring book. (He's also admiring the Darth Vadar costume advertised in the latest Toys R Us flyer. I think it's okay if i ignore his comments of awe for the time being.) Rosemarie is swapping red crayons (aka "wed cudders") for blue and orange ones from the purple box on my lap, and has temporarily forgetten about the markers in a nearby drawer. And for that i am grateful. (I hate markers. I already hate laundry, and i hate markers for making me hate marker-stained-laundry even more. I'm grouchy. Where's my coffee?)

And did i mention that my Christmas shopping is officially complete? So is St. Nick prep, and the mid-December birthday boy is taken care of. (Curb your jealousy, if you can). The last of the gifts arrived in the mail yesterday - the kids' big ones (over which i am completely excited!) - and all that is left to do is bake the goodies for distribution to Godparents. So if you come over to my house before the grand Holiday, don't snoop in the hall closet. In fact, don't even turn its doorknob. You'll risk blankets and packages and homebirth supplies spilling out all over you. Nobody should have to deal with that kind of emotional trauma.

So for now, peace reigns at Providence Cottage. The steady, gloomy rain outside adds to the peace and slowness around here. Maybe the dampness will give the husband an excuse not to work outside until dark and we can have a movie night or sit by the woodstove and read? Perhaps the kids will be happy coloring all morning long and i can sneak in a lazy nap? Maybe they'll pile up on top of me just as i'm drifting off and soothe my annoyed jolt with sloppy kisses? (*sigh*) It's a good life, mine.

*

Eco-Theology

We've had a dry autumn, and we frequently grumble about it at the dinner table.

Joe: "It would just be nice if the fruit trees could get a good watering-in before winter hits. It hasn't rained in FOREVER!"

Thomas: (Interupting adult conversation with abandon - as usual) "Umm, yes it has, Daddy. It's been raining for, like, 3 years. Or maybe 10. Actually, it's been raining forever."

Joe: "?"

Thomas continues: "Because Jesus is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.... and He shall rain forever and ever!!"

Pic of the Litter

After a long and quiet labor, our 2-year-old JRT, Lucy, gave birth to 7 (SEVEN!) adorable little puppies! She's a five-pounder, so we were naturally shocked at the number of pups. But what do we know? So long as it never happens to me....

Lucky little Thomas, on waking at 3 a.m., got to go out to the garage with daddy to check on the laboring Lucy. Despite the middle of the night burst of excitement, the good boy went back to bed and awoke again at 8 to tell me that Lucy had a homebirth. ;)

These purebreds will be up for sale on craigslist(dot)com or in the local paper once they're weaned - incase anyone is interested. (It'll be just in time for Saint Nick's day - wink wink nudge nudge).

*

Tired of reading the travel mug post?

At 33+ weeks pregnant, i've become a minimalist.

Here are some recent fall photos of the kids to hold you off until i make time to post any worthwhile reflections:





*

Travel Mugs - $19.99/pair

Admittedly, i don't do nearly enough traveling to justify owning anything like this. But i do like to keep my coffee hot despite hours-long distractions from the mug. And i do consider it some sort of sin to drink hot beverages from plastic. *Shudder*

So here it is - the Longaberger Woven Traditions Travel Mug - the answer to all of my thermal and moral woes. A pair of them are making their debut in my home this week, thanks to my generous mama who recently hosted a Longaberger party at her house. I clean her house, she buys the mugs. Sweet deal.

Why are they so great? Because they're made of non-porous vitrified china, which means they're NOT PLASTIC, beautiful, heavy, durable, hand-crafted, dishwasher safe, have lids that are custom made to fit your mug (no leakies!), are extra tall like most travel mugs, and are... did i say beautiful? Everything i've ever looked for in a vessel of delicious sanity.

.

Super Fan

...even though they lose time and again.

The perfect morning, the perfect cider

It seems kind of fall-ish this morning at Providence Cottage.

The air is cool, and the sun has snuck behind a blanket of thin clouds.

Joe is up on a ladder, picking apples off of an aged tree.

Thomas and Rosemarie are in the sandbox, barely un-pajamaed.

I'm in the kitchen, watching from my window as i preserve tomatoes and herbs, and i observe my babes' hair dancing in the autumn breeze.

And now, with the smell of sausages and saurkraut cooking away in the crockpot and pretzels baking in the oven, my husband and son are working hard to make some of the most delicious apple cider that has ever touched my tongue. Outdoors, of course, to keep the stickies out of the house. ;)

*

Of the birds and the.... flies?

Overheard at lunch this afternoon:

Thomas: (With stunned amazement)
"Hey! Look! That fly is using the other fly as his rocking horse!"

Joseph Mousebane

He's done it again, folks!
From racoons to muskrats, spiders to mice, no despised pest will ever survive once he's in the sights of my husband. How i love documenting these events on my blog!!

The latest trespasser - a grey field mouse.
The location - our basement living area.
The weapon - a plastic peanut jar.

One giant leap across the room. One heavy and unflinching smash motion with the jar. One napkin to pick up the carcass. One very pouty pet cat. (If only she had better reflexes than my husband.)

Adventures in potty training

'Tis the season to harvest tomatoes (and all those other sorts of veg that are going to rot faster than i can can them - but dont tell my husband). Lucky for me (and my marriage), i have a baby girl who will dig her rodent teeth into just about anything that grows in the garden - which saves me from having to blanch it, chop it, dry it, or stick it in a mason jar. Ain't she cute?

Speaking of cute, check out those stylish underpants!! That's right - underpants!!! I was a skeptic, myself, but am highyly motivated by the imminent birth of #3 in less than 11 weeks.

I know you'd all love to hear about the "potty cow," the adorable line of underpants she now owns, her version of the ASL hand signal for "I need to use the potty now," or about the time she secretly used the bathroom on her own and presented the soiled bowl to Joe and me in the living room, but i find it in better taste to spare the cyber-world the underappreciated-by-anybody-but-women details of how we got to where we are. Suffice it to say that this 17 month old currently has a very high rate of success, and it's only taken 3 days.

Way to go, Rosemarie!

Minus the garlic...

...can you name the 6 herbs in this picture?

C'mon - i know we have lots of skilled herb gardeners out there!

Exercising his right to bear arms

No license required to brandish a wooden sword?
We start 'em young around these parts.

Obama says, "Just lay there and die, please."

Even Hillary Clinton and NARAL are in favor of giving abortion survivors medical rights.

And by 'abortion survivors' we mean babies who survive being ripped out of their mother's wombs by abortionists and, despite being left alone to die in sterile metal basins, have the audacity (as some have called it) to breath and cry and urinate and flail their precious arms and legs around in search of SOMEBODY to cling to despite their attempted murder.

Are you crying yet? Did you even know this happens? Where are the tissues?

Hillary and NARAL and other liberal pro-choicers may be in denial about personhood within the womb, but at least they are willing to admit that if it looks like a baby and sounds like a baby then it must be a baby and is therefore entitled to medical attention... just like the preterm babies that are being born 3 floors up in the same hospitals.

But Obama is a freaking radical. As Illinois Senator, Obama has BLOCKED legislation that would require doctors to give immediate medical attention to babies who survive abortions!!!!!!! Come ON!!! Talk about a sicko!

I wish i could say it more intelligently, but i am really angry about this new piece of info i came across and cannot help but post something about it, in hopes that any of my pro-life-but-still-Obama-for-Change-readers will do more research about the basic human rights violations that this man has aided in permitting.

Don't you dare overlook this or pass it off as subordinate to all the other "changes" he promises the nation.

Still want to give him power over the rule of our precious country?

Comments? Links?

Mouthful of Frozen Goodness

I no longer have high expectations for tiny people's mealtime tidiness (like i did when i wore those rose-colored glasses they give you upon the birth of your first child. Nobody told me you had to give those back after the birth of #2!!).

Instead, I thank God for dishrags and running water.

What I didnt know about the Olympics

Normally, i think it's really boring and uncreative to simply link to an article written by somebody else and call it my very own blog post, but this occassion calls for it.

After reading it, i (ashamedly) count myself among the population i normally criticize - that is, those swept-up by cultural phenomenons who also fail to question what goes on behind the scenes.

A few sentences of his to get you interested, and then the link:

"By now, everyone has seen pictures of the beautiful new stadiums that have been built by the Beijing regime. What you won’t see are the military camps on the outskirts of Beijing, where units of the People’s Armed Police, armed with tanks and armored personnel carriers, have been placed on high alert. But local observers say that the police and military presence is even greater than that of June 1989, when deadly force was used to put down the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and a massacre ensued....

Tragically, the decision to allow Beijing to host the 2008 Olympics has led directly to more human rights abuses. An estimated two million residents of Beijing have been rendered homeless, their homes destroyed to make way for various Olympic venues....

Like the XI Olympiad held in Adolf Hitler’s Berlin in 1936, I believe that the Beijing Olympics contravenes both the history and the spirit of the Olympic Games. I have signed the petition at http://www.beijingboycottcoalition.com/ pledging not to view broadcasts of the events, or will patronize any of the Games sponsors."

For the full article: Why I Will not Be Attending (or watching) the Beijing Olympics

Baby Bell-Ringer

On Wednesday, I had the extreme privilege of attending the first profession of vows of one of my college friends.

Sister Karol Joseph (that's JPII's baptismal name), along with 13 other young women, made the simple vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience for the duration of 3 years, and, after that, will make a final profession for life. (!) For me, one of the most beautiful and real moments was when the bishop handed them their new veils (newly blessed with holy water, of course!) and said, "...may you present it unblemished before the judgement seat of Christ."
Sweet!

This order, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, which was founded in 1997, is - despite their recent establishment - deeply rooted in the ancient monastic traditions of the Domincan Order. And as a testament to the beauty and authenticity of this religious order, be it known that they have 75+ young women whose average age is 28. TWENTY_EIGHT!!!!

After attending the solemn ceremony, i can't help but pour out gratitude to the Lord for taking these beautiful souls as His consecrated spouses! What a gift these religious are to the Church and to the world!

Here we are at the Mother House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rosemarie got the privilege of ringing the huge monastery bell, as you can see in the picture. She loved being hoisted up by the hundreds of ringing pounds at the other end of the rope! Not obvious.



And here's the Mother House Chapel. Marble floors. Gilded altar. Choir stalls. Gotta love all that.


And of course, the newly professed. A beaming bride!

His motto: "I won't pay anyone to do anything that i can do myself."

Here's to my favorite

roofer
electrician
gable-vent-installer
insulator
window replacer
door hanger
cement-footer-pourer
floor sealer
ceiling fan hanger
wooden floor layer
drywall putter-upper
painter

who transformed a drafty, drippy, spider-infested, boring old useless porch


into a whole new rusticly elegant room for our growing family!!!



It's not quite finished out (needs trim around windows, door, floor, and false beams in the ceiling), but looks so beautiful to me already!!!

Thank you, my talented and irreplaceable husband! I LOOOOOve you!
(You're not opposed to blog PDA, are you?)

It's Over

We're breaking up.

At least for now.

And i'm going back to my old dish-washing ways.

I know we've only been together for 19 months, but i've had it with your mockery.
I put dirty dishes in. You promise to give them back to me all clean and shiny. You're such a liar!!!! Silverware, coffee mugs, dinner plates - they all come out filmy and grimy and sometimes dirtier than when i gave them to you in the first place!

Sometimes, you embarrass me. Like when i assume you make the glasses sparkly and then a guest grabs one out of the cupboard only to reveal to me that they're about to be poisoned by a filthy cup. No more JetDry for you, ya big waster! I hate being blamed for your mistakes. Ugh!!!

Do you think i LIKE wasting water and electricity!? You take forever to do your half-baked job and then i have to do it all over again for you by hand. My patience is worn out, and I'm through covering for you.

As my mama always said, "I don't need a dishwasher, because i gave birth to four!" Well, my 'dishwashers' might not be able to do the job for me just yet, but i'm going back to being the one my mama delivered.

At least for now.

What to do with all that zucchini?

I get tired of making zucchini bread.

Dont get me wrong - I'm a huge fan of the warm confection with a nice cup of coffee on even the hottest of July days, but the artist in me feels somewhat dwarfed when I'm limited to making only ONE recipe with any given veggie. (Like lettuce, for instance. What else can you do with it besides eat it as a salad? You can't even preserve the stuff, so you're left with multiple heads that go to the chickens.... What a waste.)

Last summer, i started looking for other zucchini recipes so i could make good use of those long, green squashes that my husband spends so much time cultivating. What we had for supper last night is one of my favorite zucchini "alternative" recipes. Filling, flavorful, an all-in-one entree, and loved even by Rosemarie. Here's the recipe, if you're looking for satisfying options:

Stuffed Zucchini

Place 4-5 medium size zucchini in a bath of boiling water for 5-7 minutes.

Remove from bath and place in baking dish. Lengthwise, slice off upper 1/3 of zucchini and scoop out pulp (so it looks like a boat). Do what you will with pulp, or reserve some to mix with the stuffing.

Fill up the zucchini boats with some of the following mixture (which i altered from the original recipe, as you may also do based on personal taste):

-1/2 lb. cooked ground beef and 1/2 lb. cooked ground sausage
-2 eggs
-diced onion
-some zucchini pulp (no seeds if possible)
-salt, pepper, sage, parsley
-bread crumbs or crumbled saltine crackers
-shredded cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese (we like lots!)

Bake in 350F oven for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with homemade bread and jam.

Enjoy!!

Ain't she a beauty?

This monsterous instrument is the best free thing i've ever had the pleasure of snagging at a garage sale.

And before you ask - no, i do not know how to play. Noone between the ages of 3 1/2 and 26 in my house does. But that's all about to change because... well, because i'm in charge here and get to boss around all the kids and enroll them in piano lessons if I want to.



*N.B. I am currently taking names of possible instructors. Pass 'em on if you got 'em!

And She's in Pig Tails!!!!

Having babies makes me realize how realistic it is for someone to want to gobble up these adorable little people!

Appreciations of a Pregnant Bod

Behold, our new shower curtain rod!!!!!!!!!

To you, it may look like a boring piece of brushed metal.
But to me - ah! - to me it means FREEDOM! Acres and acres of soapy freedom!

The beauty of this curtain rod is that it is curved out, allowing up to 7.5 inches (7.5 inches!!) more elbow room! I prefer to think of this as 7.5 extra inches of growing abdomen room. But call it what you will, it means a lot to my morphing physique.

Do you understand how awesome this is? Of course you don't - unless, of course, you were me about 15 months ago when i was hugely pregnant with Rosemarie and absolutely closterphobic in my very own shower.

So now i love my husband more - for spending $40 to help regulate my self-esteem during my 3rd round of rapid growth in 4 years. And i've resolved to show him how much i appreciate his gift to me by making sure i shower at least every other day.
(Hey! Chill out! I'm not a smelly person, and my hair actually looks better on day 2.... I like to think of it as me getting in touch with my more European side. And would i get PC points if i said conserving water and shampoo this way was, er, Green?)

A present for the preborn Maggie

It's been run through my sewing machine and will be in the mail this week.

FINALLY!!!!

Rosemarie gave your sling a test run, and fell asleep in it 2 minutes after we tried it on for this photo. I think you'll find it quite comfortable. ;)

Could you ask your mama to send her mailing address to me via email?
Thanks, cutie. See your pretty face soon enough!

p.s. sorry about the armpit in this photo. Utterly unattractive, i know. But who couldnt use a little extra humility in their lives?

See you after we're sun-kissed!!

And yes, these are the only outfits we're taking with us. ;)
Well, maybe we'll bring along some extra underpants, too, just to be cautious.
But don't worry yourself over that - i'm the one obsessing over what we should and shouldn't pack.

I'll write again in late June!

A Lesson in Life and Death

At the age of 26, it's difficult to wrap my mind around the beautiful mysteries of life and death.

At the age of 3 1/2, i'm sure the difficulty is even more pronounced.

For instance, Honeysuckle Run is proud to announce that we have our very first baby chick! That's right - bred and born here in our own backyard. A cute little peep of a chick... or so i've heard, as mother hen (a Bantam Porcelain Bearded Belgian D'Uccle) is mighty protective and shields the creature from view. I can hardly blame her, though - aren't all we first-time moms cautious to the point of paranoia? Anyway, my point is that Thomas knows that a mom and dad chicken got married and with lots of tender care, a baby chicken was born forth from their mutual 'love.' Simple yet thurough, eh? True, no? He was invigorated by the bigness of the whole idea.

Less than 24 hours later, his boyish heart was smashed to bits upon discovering that his pet goldfish - for whom he alone took responsibility - had given up the ghost. Thomas blamed himself, naturally, saying that he had given it too much food. (I think this is because i overstressed the importance of moderation when it came to those fish flakes, mostly to make sure i - i mean, he - didnt have to clean the bowl every other day.) He wept bitterly, and grieved over the loss of his pet. But i think he's okay now, since he seems to grasps the fact that spiders and flies and fish and racoons all have rather shortish lives that end after their purpose is completed.

A lesson on life and another on death - all in 24 hours.

Rethinking things, maybe at 3 1/2 it's not so hard to get it after all. Perhaps the innocence and simplicity of childhood makes those two mysteries more palatable, more tangible, more real. At least it seems to when i compare my own 'adult' understanding to that of my preschool son.

Planet Earth Series

One thing that Joe and i have gotten good at in the summers since our marriage is watching DVD series from our local library. After lunch, it's too hot to do much work, and, since we like to work until 8pm or so, we're obliged to transplant the common daily break into some other part of the day.
[I'm including that explanation for those readers who are inclined to think of a midday break as lazy and slothful. You know who you are!;P]

Presently, we're enjoying the 5 disc, 11 part series from the BBC entitled "Planet Earth."

Though i recommend completely avoiding the 5th disc, which is full of anti-human, global warming, we're-all-gonna-die-if-this-species-of-frog-goes-extinct propoganda, I'd give this audio-visual delight an overall rating of "Bloody Excellent!"

Exquisite, comprehensive footage of the most remote and unbelievable parts of the Almighty's creation.

Time lapse photography of growing vegetation or melting snow.

Heck, they even threw in a night shot of some starving lions attacking and devouring an elephant! An ELEPHANT!! (I'm told this is bizarre behavior. And for the faint of heart, they've spared viewers the goriness of it all. Gotta keep it family-friendly!)

Apparently, i missed the highlight of yesterday's episode. Read on:

After laying the baby down in the bedroom, i returned to the humidity-free basement only to be told, "You missed the best part, honey!"

Me: "Huh? Man! What'd i miss!!!"

Him: "They just got through featuring the Wild Asses of the Tibetan Plain!"

Me: "Aw! What'd they say about the wild asses?" (Sincerely curious, mind you, and dumb to the slam i was about to endure.)

Him: "They said the behavior of the female wild asses is bizarre and unpredictable and noone knows why they do what they do."

Rosemarie on Demand

This post is dedicated to the highest ranking sister-in-law on my husband's side. (See "Comments" from last week's floor post.)

And like her, i also can't get enough of this sweet little face and those twinkling blue eyes!

Example:
Sunday morning i hesitantly pulled this purple garage sale dress over her head, afraid that it might appear a bit too gaudy for my taste. (What kind of person likes primary red flowers on a lilac background - in theory, anyway?) But as soon as i buttoned up the back, tied up the pretty bow, and opened my eyes, my instincts drove me to plop her on the porch and snap ferociously with my camera.

So to all the members of the Rosemarie fan club, i'm glad i can satisfy your appetite for cuteness!

Need I say more?

Is there room on the floor for mommy?

I belong there, so scoot over, kiddos!

And as i detest all things "lite" - from cream cheese to soda - i'll be serving up a balanced and full o' fattiness portion of blog as soon as i map out a new daily routine for summertime use.

Laziness? Nah!

No time for naps around here, folks!

Too much to do with it, what, being May and all.

Every year, the slow contemplativeness of winter fades away and the liveliness of spring just pops up out of nowhere - and at top speed from the start. I dont know how it happens, and i dont know how i'm ever supposed to keep up. But one of these years, i'm going to do it.

But this is not the year. This spring, i may not ever catch my breath, but i am enjoying each day, taking the opportunity to actually smell the lilacs i cut for the house, spending that extra minute to find the camera so i can forever preserve precious child-moments like the one caught above.

Their froggy

Despite my unintentional act of reducing the number of frogs around here last summer, these creatures still have the courage to show their cute little ribbity faces around our house.

This one, appropriately named "Froggy," let us catch him yesterday afternoon. Though Thomas named him, Rosemarie gets to take the credit for having found him sitting quietly beside our downspouts. If she'd had it her way, she would have squashed him with one big open-handed-baby-smash. (Some call this petting.) But i had to make up for last year's accident and spare him a similar fate.

So instead of being squished to death underfoot/underhand, he was subjected to temporary captivity and toted around the yard, up and down the slide, through the sandbox, and various other places you'd find an unleashed preschooler on a spring afternoon. Finally, after some pictures and with fewer tears than we anticipated, Froggy was released back into the wild where he belongs.

"The first spring flower!"

Behold them come - countless millions of white and pale pink wildflowers wake from a winter's slumber beneath the mud of the woodland floor.

Yesterday brought tempuratures in the 60s, and with that came the inevitable itch to get outside and search wide-eyed for what has come to be known as "the first spring flower" - especially if you happen to be 3 years old and own a pair of red fire truck mud boots.

See it here, held out by my little growing man as a if it were the gold medal of springtime exploration.

Announcing Version 3.0

In a lot of ways, a blog sure is a nice thing to have, in that it saves me from that endless clicking in my contacts database. So, because of my tendency to do things the quick and easy way, i've decided to share some really really important and happy and somewhat-a-bit-too-good-for-cyberspace news with all of you:

We're happy to announce that a 3rd child will be born into our family around the first week of December!!!!! So please keep us in your prayers, and join us in thanking God for this gratuious blessing!

Observation

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Rosemarie!

May you continue to blossom like a beautiful flower in the garden tended by the Blessed Mother!

We love you, Toodles!!

The "Mom is on the Phone!" Phenomenon

Lucky for my sanity, this doenst happen every day.

If she hadnt said it first

Slow going here in cyberspace. But i have a totally legit excuse:

Lately, i've been so absolutely in love with my family that i just cant find the words. And i'm not going to fib by saying i'm even trying to make the time. I just can't bear to deprive myself of their sweet faces and bursting-with-baby-joy hearts for even as short a time as it takes to whip up a short anecdote.

And instead of being blog-guilted into posting something unworthy, i take consolation in the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, who proposed,

"How can the human tongue hope to express what the human heart can hardly understand?"

Another Question for my Canon Lawyer friend

I dont even know if my blog is cool enough to still merit his attention, but on the off-chance that it is, here's my question:

How difficult/likely is it for a priest to obtain the faculty to confirm from his bishop if this priest is not a dean? The confirmation would be taking place at the Easter Vigil for a 13 year old who was baptized Catholic as an infant.

Space Dome

If you don't alread have a set, i recommend requesting from the Easter Bunny a pair of generous grandparents for your children who give them gifts like this one for their birthdays. This Super Dome is big, belongs outside, will outlast our children's childhood, is a medium for endless afternoons of climbing fun, and gave the receiver an opportunity to "be Daddy's helper" on Sunday afternoon.

A great big squeezy hug thank you to Nana and Pops for this grately anticipated needs-2-parents-to-be-assembled present!!!!

How to spend $80

I could buy a Baby Hawk Mei Tai carrier from here, or i could buy fabric for $7.99/yard, make my own, and spend the other $72.01 on some much-needed dress shirts for the one who works outside the home.

What kind of woman ISNT satisfied by her ability to be crafty and save money while doing it? And i have to admit that i'm totally pleased with the Tasha Tudor-esque scenes of children playing with blocks/in tree houses/in rose gardens that this pretty piece of flannel features in a muted sage.

Though nothing will ever measure up to the comfort and versatility of my beloved sling, strapping the little ones on the OTHER side of my body has proved to have its advantages when i'm carrying the been-full-of-clean-clothes-and-in-the-basement-for-too-long laundry basket up from the basement.

To Dangle

Our Lenten Crocus

I love that my husband has a gardener's heart.
I love that he planted these happy little crocus bulbs indoors for our pleasure.
I love that, day after day, we watched in anticipation as green foliage emerged, leading the way for papery, oblong buds.
I love that, when the glory of this springtime announcement finally blossomed, our little son peered over the pot and placed a sweet little kiss on the new flower.

Seeing him react to simple beauty that way was a moment of revelation for me:
Shouldn't I be more reverent of that which is good and beautiful and pure, responding to it with gestures of silent joy?

Ice Forest

I was deceived by the hyacinth and crocus bulbs that were gradually emerging from the soggy soil - winter is not over just yet.
Detriment to my power lines, phone lines, and water supply that this spectacle proves to be, i do find something about a woods full of glassy, glistening trees to be strikingly majestic.

Mount Sinai

Even though i'll never get entirely used to it, i am gradually becoming less and less surprised by the aftermath of a Thomas's increasing independence.

Example: Finding the house's last roll of toilet paper in an unraveled pile on the bathroom floor (bottom yet unwipe-ed) and hearing it described by the culprit as "the mountain of Moses" brings me only joy these days. We'll soon learn to repress our desire to reenact the morning's Bible story with essential personal hygiene items.

Indulge your case of "Feather Fever"

You want chickens.
You know you do.
Here's your opportunity to buy some pretty little hens that got their start at Honeysuckle Run!!!!!

Take a look at our Craigslist advertisement refering to some of the girls we've put up for adoption.

Timely Philosophy

At the beginning of the winter, they warned us about the imminence of global warming.

Here at the conclusion of February, they're telling us that the earth is headed into a new ice age.

All the murmuring taken into consideration last night, my husband informed me,

"As any good philospher would tell you, Honey, science was never intended to predict the future. That's why the weathermen always end up looking like fools."

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in You, O God."
-St Augustine

Hershey's Kisses, strawberry pancake breakfast, red and pink construction paper, and yet-to-be-baked St. Valentine cake* aside, we are trying to keep in mind the utter reality of the words St. Augustine wrote nearly two millenia ago.

*recipe taken from "Cooking with the Saints" by Ignatius Press

Being Un-Plugged Leads to Ridiculous Conversations

I can't believe we were reduced to this one, but last night, The Husband and I were trying to figure out if Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana were the same person....

We agreed that MC must be a real-life girl who plays the role of HM, and that they're both singers - although we dont REALLY know for sure.

College Notes - a Lesson in Detachment

And the timing really couldnt be much better. I mean, Lent DID begin yesterday, and i'm always in need of harsh lessons in spiritual reality. But let me start at the beginning:

I kept all my college notes.
Notebook after immaculate notebook full of the most pristine notes you've ever seen. I've always prided myself on my excellent note-taking ability. Thurough, integral, tri-colored script is what filled every last one of my college notebooks that i kept neatly in a cardboard box and tucked away in the basement with all of my other important-but-not-refered-to-daily documents.

Epistemology, metaphysics, ecclessiology, american history, embryology, medical bioethics, Christology - you name it, it was kept. I justified the space they took up in our already overflowing basement by saying that those notebooks WERE my college educuation... that i paid multiple 10s of thousands of dollars FOR THE INFORMATION THAT FILLED THOSE VERY NOTEBOOKS.

That's what i got away with thinking until yesterday.

Imagine my surprise when, coming home from Mass, i descended the basement stairs and found it to be a watery wasteland. (Not that i should have been entirely shocked - we've been under a flood warning for days and we get soaked out at least once every 6 months.) Toys afloat, area rugs awash in rainwater, electronics miraculously spared, and maternal fuses growing exponentially shorter by the millisecond.

The details of the rest of my very penitential day aside*, be it known that my heart was nearly rent from my chest when i found my cardboard treasure chest ON THE FLOOR (!) and in the last-to-be-investigated shadows of our overstocked basement.

My perfect notebooks, worthy of preservation for generations to come, able to impart knowledge theological to anyone willing to read and at less then 1/2000th the cost of a Bachelors Degree, were utterly waterlogged. Smeared. Soggy. Disgusting. Unsalvageble.

Fortunately for me (and - let's be honest - for everyone else in our house), i took this most wretched of discoveries and allowed the grace of God to impart to me the wisdom that theology is best learnt on one's knees.
No notebooks necessary.
And I thank Him for that.


*penitential day details - 1.) flaggrantly disobedient son who's disobedience could have been used to sanctify me had i let it 2.) I was starving - it was Ash Wednesday 3.) The brand new furnace of the downstairs unit of our rental mysteriously stopped functioning 4.) The upstairs unit of our rental barely missed going down in history by warranting an eviction hearing 5.) Said upstairs unit was left utterly destoryed (8 giant fist-punch holes in wall, filthy, full of an overused and unemptied cat litter box, whiskey bottles a-plenty strewn about, etc etc etc) by ungrateful and pitiable tenants whom i should really be praying for instead of complaining about. 6.) I was still starving. 7.) Did i mention that this is the 3rd time in 14 months that our basement has taken in massive amounts of water?

It wouldnt be February

if i didnt surrender one entire week of family life to the flu.

Meanwhile, here's the official link for the cause of canonization for Father Vincent Capodanno, a chaplain to the Marines in the Vietnam War who gave his life on the battlefield. I love this man!!!

No swimming lessons needed until it's 32F

As evidenced by this photograph, it turns out that the pond has a fall-thru-resistant 10 inches of ice on its surface.

It's only because of the happy face captured in this image that i am willing to forget the 5 minutes of agony i endured yesterday when i was beyond certain that my husband had fallen into the icy water and left me a widow.

I wont go into how he's prone to go on dangerous adventures without telling me.

I'll leave out the part about how, from my view out the kitchen window, i thought i saw a hole in the ice.

I'm even willing to delete the fact that, after running out onto the deck in sheer panic, my fears were confirmed as i saw one-way foot tracks leading out to the center of the deep end of the pond... and that i STILL thought i saw the hole in the ice.

I will, however, share with you that the husband agreed to never again venture onto the pond without first tipping me off about the endeavor. That, and i get a box of chocolates every day from now until Ash Wednesday to help me cope with the residual nerves brought on by this whole fiasco.

While we're posting pictures of my children dressed as clergy....

i might as well add this one of him at 10 months old dressed as Pope John Paul II.

Note the Papal Coat of Arms and crosier.
Such props made up for my inability as a seamstress.

Model Priest

Once he heard one of our favorite priests was going to be stopping by for lunch and a visit today, he insisted that i dig the costume alb, cassock, and stole out of last year's clothes bin.
(He was St. John Vianney for Halloween '06)

And with all the amazing examples of what it means to be alter Christus (lit. "another Christ"), it's no wonder he wants to be just like them.


Here he is in a picture which, 23 years from now, will prove prophetic.
Or so we've been told....

He has babies in his heart

In a lunch time moment of revelation, the declaration of which occured mid-scootch-into-the-table, Thomas exclaimed,

"Oh! Mommy! My heart is gonna open up!"

When i frantically asked why (*i was a little alarmed - always assuming that the innocence of childhood is allowed insights into the Divine Plan*), he explained that it was because

"...when Daddy comes home from the Marsh fer Life, he can put all the babies in there. And then they can be born. I'll close the door."
*big eyes, smile of satisfaction*

No wardrobe malfunctions this spring, thank you very much! (*Cough*)

Kudos to our local Catholic high school, who banned strapless dresses from this year's prom.

A courageous move by the adminstration? Absolutely.
And they have my support. I think i ought to write them a letter of affirmation, as i'm sure there will be many snobbish and unintelligent complaints about how this violates a girl's 'freedom' to dress with wreckless abandon.

I'm not declaring a moral problem with strapless gowns per se, and i don't think the admin is, either. An aesthetic problem, though? Well, yes. But i won't go into the inevitablity of armpit fat, the waterfalling of 'endowments', or the tackiness of dress tugging right now. My coffee is getting cold.

I do, however, think it is clearly within the rights of the school to safeguard the integrity of one of its social events by carrying over its dress code regulations, especially if doing so will decrease the possibilty of, um... wardrobe malfunctions. You know what i'm getting at, and it has happened. Embarrassing for all who had the misfortune of being within eyeshot, and it compromises too much for too many people.

Afterall, why not challenge the young ladies of our town to shop with a little more insight about the dignity of their bodies - created good and beautiful by God?

Adorn your bodies with gorgeous fabrics and jewels - satin and sequins and beads and organza and tulle - edifying them as the temples that they are. Don't leave them bare shrines to be profaned.

Rise to the challenge and grow in class.

2 new links

on the sidebar, both of which were featured in my favorite newspaper.

Faith and Family Flix boasts many via-mail DVD rental packages similar in price to Net*flix, but spares with-taste viewing families the burden of searching through lists of movies that feature nasty content or promote ill agendas. Right now, there are upwards of 2,000 titles to chose from. My apologies to those family members for whom we purchased NF subscriptions - had i known about this option, we'd have gone for it instead.

The Sacred Arts is the website for a group of artists that are reviving fine Catholic Art. A must see! And if ever the traveling art exhibits are displayed within range of Providence Cottage, i'm going.

Aspirations

It is still possible for a virtuous man to be inspired by primetime television.

From the mouth of my husband last night:

"This really could be great, honey! I could be the first person ever to compete in American Gladiators, The Amazing Race, AND Jeopardy!"

Go for it, darling!

To inspire my more domestic sort of friends

A picture of tonight's dinner, fresh out of the oven, and made entirely from scratch.

A typical Sunday night sup, the dough (1pkg yeast, 1 c. warm water, 3 1/4 c. flour, 1 tbsp extra v. olive oil, basil, and garlic powder) was kneaded by my KitchenAid Mixer for 8 minutes and rested for 10, got rolled out in cornmeal and plopped on two pre-heated baking stones, was topped with homemade tomato sauce, heaps of mozzarella, salami (though not homemade, i did slice it myself), homegrown peppers, and mushrooms. Bake these two pies for 18 minutes at 425F and you're sure to please all the hungry bellies in your family.

Homemade pizza is relatively fast and inexpensive - my estimated expense on tonight's meal is $1.50 to feed 2 adults and one toddler with a whole pizza left over - not to mention healthy. And i ought to say that it's enjoyable kitchen time, particularly when i have a pair of 3 year old hands eagerly asking to help roll-out the dough and place all the toppings - one...by one... by one....

baby quilts

My inspiration for this post comes from this link.

Though not hand sewn, i do make my children's quilts on my machine, cut and piece the fabric by hand, and wrap them up as presents for Christmas. A time-consuming gift of love that i can see being tossed across the foot of a college dorm bed in 18 years. (*tear*)

Here's Rosemarie with hers. A floral theme, yes.

I am Melchior

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
...
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Mt 2

Flattery?

I don't typically handle the outside chores in the winter (or in the fall, spring, or summer) unless i am feeling extra self-sacrificial... like i was this afternoon.

Doing so does, on occassion, afford me an interesting tale about how one might react when attacked by a (bantam/miniature) rooster. And for that i can forgive all transgressions. (Thereby being extra extra self-sacrificial. See how this works!)

Plain and simple, my totally-caught-off-guard-by-porcelain-blue-feathers-flapping-near-my-eyes reaction was to screach. After swiftly regaining my sense of dignity, i was sure to give that brute of a bird a rather harsh lecture about how ridiculous a thing that was to do to the woman who just hauled out 5 gallons of water for his whole flock. "In the freezing cold, mind you." (*Glare*)

Necessarily, i reported this naughty behavior to the master of the house as grounds for spring butchering. Sympathetic and always looking for an instinctual motivation for bizarre animal behavior, my husband concluded, "And besides, maybe he could just sense that you're a girl?"

A rooster - aware of my feminine charm? "Weird!"

"Actually, i can completely understand!" quoth the flatter.

Appearance reveals all

I'm sometimes led to believe that certain physical characteristics have inherent meaning that reaches far beyond any possible or necessary demonstration of personality.

Like when a 3 year old says, "Here, Mommy - you play with the soldier with the naughty eyebrows," you'd better just trust his insight, and exchange both your rather shallow observation of thick, auburn bushiness and your assumption that the government must not issue tweezers for the fact that this dude simply has an evil core.